Venus
Venus is one of the terrestrial planets, second from the sun. Very closely matching Earth in size, Venus remains one of the most inhospitable locations within the Sol System. Even having undergone multiple terraforming efforts over the past century, the boiling atmospheric temperature, heightened pressure, acidic storms and extreme tectonic instabilities ensure that any true colonisation efforts are quickly brought to a standstill. This allowed Venus to eventually be viewed in an oddly romanticized light following the successful establishment of colonies on Pluto, with many equating it to a modern Dark Continent. After the eighth major failure by privately funded colonists, a coalition of megacorps come forwards, voicing their wish to back one final push to truly tame the world. Combining their efforts, the CEOs behind Apex Royal Manufacturing, Williamson-Lockheed Industries, INCOM, Byrd Medical and its subsidiaries strongly believed they could finally stabilize a major continent and then advance outwards, laying the massive groundwork so many prior efforts had been unable to achieve. Across America, Europe and Asia, fliers were found on countless street corners, muscling out efforts to back the already successful Mars and Io colonies with promises of adventure and a challenge like no other the dissatisfied public. At the same time, lawyers fought in Earth courts to allow the corporations the sole legal rights to establishing permanent bases on several sections of Venus, and laying claim areas they listed as vital to their efforts. A legal agreement was eventually settled upon in spite of mass protest from other colonial expeditions, and demands to overturn several points which could be easily abused to drive off any rival township which might be established. In truth, the corporations themselves saw the event as little more than a major publicity stunt. With the early onset of minifacturing already hurting their personal profits, the entire expedition was used to promote their own works, and the image of the corporations as benevolent leaders. Few indeed truly had the funds to actually back an expedition on this scale and plans were made to ensure that the expedition would meet with a quick and bloody end, with private agreements ensuring that the blame would fall squarely on the failing INCOM. Venus itself was little more than a future potential threat to their market, one to be locked down and removed to these businessmen. Technicalities and woefully outdated laws ensured that once flags were planted under their names no other colony, independent or otherwise, could legally be permitted to set up shop anywhere on its surface. The initial expenses in actually funding this trip were covered by EarthGov itself. Elements within its hierarchy were concerned with outbursts of independence from the more successful colonies; and a tragic catastrophe would assist in keeping them in line. Many of the vessels were built with sub-standard materials and key systems within the pre-fabricated structures were intended to fail within just a few scant months. What's more, the screening process ensured that many of those who joined up to support the fledgling colony fell far below expected standards, focusing upon those with families or key connections to allow its failure to resonate more painfully with the public. Three years after their efforts began the small fleet took off from Earth, and disappeared into the void. Months went by with only scattered reports of initial landings and atmospheric probes, followed by near total silence. Then, EarthGov was met with the last news it ever expected - The colony had been successfully established. While multiple buildings had to be abandoned or galvanized to support just a small handful of key facilities, they were making steady progress towards establishing a full base of operations well within their expected deadline. The reasoning for the colony's success remains one of history's great mysteries. Some believed that the delayed effects of prior terraforming projects may have contributed to the remarkably stable tectonics; while many others argued that the new gene-engineering technology tested on the colonists allowed them to overcome the obstacles set in their path. Whatever the case, the coalition was left with a massive project they simply could not afford to support. Over the source of two years, each of the major corporations folded or declared bankruptcy, robbing the Venus colony of its paltry supply line to Earth and isolating them from the rest of the system. Despite retaining the sympathies of Pluto and Mars, Venus' expenses simply exceeded what they could afford. Isolated and starved of resources, the colonists developed and increasingly self-reliant streak bordering upon xenophobia, which was further reinforced by an extreme distrust of Earth's leaders. Still bound by legal red tape, no other major power was permitted to actually land on the planet or directly offer help, leaving the few thousand unfortunates to their fate. Over time, Venus and the dilemma of its people were simply forgotten. Earth-Pluto War & Silence After years of remaining outside of interplanetary politics, Venus eventually stepped back into the limelight during the single most violent event of Terran history: The Earth-Pluto War. While many expected them to remain neutral in the conflict, Venus unexpectedly sided against Earth and offered their world as a staging ground by the Plutonian forces. Many of Earth's primary battle fleets were engaged in a desperate series of running battles on the Saturn front, and the rise of a second major front far closer to their homeworld caught Earth flat footed. Even as Plutonian vessels and allied mercenaries entered Venus' orbit Earth scrambled its military reserves, throwing everything they had into quickly quickly crippling this new threat. What followed was one of the single most brutal fronts of the war, as both sides fought across the bitterly acidic wastes simply to deny the world to the other side. As acid scarred dropships fought amid the thick atmosphere and the few orbital facilities devolved into a relentless series of boarding actions, the entire war devolved into little more than a glorified meat grinder. Few soldiers from either side would ever return from that battlefield, and most accounts stemmed only from colonists evacuated to Pluto - often only to be pressed into serfdom - and deserters fleeing the conflict. Whatever the case, neither side ever learned just how the conflict there ended. There was no ceasefire, no sudden withdrawal or even the succession of both sides after the endless slaughter, only the sudden loss of total contact with all civilian and military forces within the surrounding few light-years. Little has been commented upon following this conflict, with the outcome and mystery overshadowed by the far larger battles and the Sol system's ruined state, with few having the time or finances to spare on such a dry well. However, word has spread of something distinctly strange. A few wreck divers attempting to hunt down the EAN Defiant found the system to be heavily defended. They claimed to have witnessed countless battle stations, naval warships and capital vessels from Pluto and a number of corporate investors held a sphere around the world not defending it but with all guns pointed inwards, patrolling the surrounding void continually for any sign of intruders. The few who broke word of this disappeared mere months later in an FTL drive accident, but then there was a second tale. A lone scientific listening outpost on Luna claimed to have picked up an impossibly powerful transmission from Venus following the loss of all contact, before it too was suddenly silent. It was the same repeating message over and over again - 10.093 billion followed by zero, accompanied by a list of years, months and seconds. They were counting down.